Fisker halts production, warns it may need bankruptcy protection

Fisker has paused production of its sole model, the Ocean crossover, as it seeks to conserve cash while hunting for new funding.

The electric vehicle startup on Monday said the pause in production will last six weeks and will also help “align” inventory levels. The company said it has delivered 1,300 Oceans so far in 2024 and has 4,700 of the crossovers in its current inventory. The Ocean is built by contract manufacturer Magna Steyr at a plant in Austria.

In the same announcement, Fisker said it will raise up to $150 million in funding by selling debt instruments, in this case convertible notes, to an existing investor. The company also said it’s continuing to talk with a “large automaker” about a potential investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more EV platforms, and joint production in North America.

Citing people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported earlier this month that the large automaker in talks with Fisker is Nissan. According to the sources, Nissan could tap Fisker for a platform for an electric truck, and build both its truck plus a truck for Fisker at a plant in the U.S., starting around 2026. Fisker previewed its own electric truck last year with the Alaska concept. The company recently changed the name for the planned production model to Kayak.

Nissan last week announced it will look to evaluate a partnership with Honda in the area of EVs and software development.

Fisker on Monday also said in a regulatory filing that it missed an interest payment of about $8.4 million last week on its existing convertible notes, and would utilize a 30-day grace period to make the payment. The company also warned about the need for “significant additional funding” in the near term to continue its operations and that without the required capital, may need to seek bankruptcy protection.

Beyond the Ocean and Kayak, Fisker also has plans for an affordable crossover called the Pear and a high-end convertible called the Ronin. Concepts for both models were shown last August together with the Alaska truck concept.